Four threats to Aussies - Hussey
Mike Hussey believes South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand will pose the biggest threat to Australia at the forthcoming World Cup.
The 1999 and 2003 winners are looking for an unprecedented treble but Hussey knows it will be tough to achieve.
He said: "South Africa are a very, very well drilled unit and Sri Lanka, I think, are going to be very dangerous.
“Pakistan on their day are dangerous and the Kiwis have been playing some consistent one-day cricket as well.”
Australia will head for the Caribbean after five successive defeats - two by England on home soil in the Commonwealth Bank series final and three in New Zealand.
Hussey, however, expects the team will rise to the challenge.
“There’s pressure in international cricket, it’s the World Cup, there’s going to be pressure on everyone, we’re looking forward to it,” the 31-year-old batsman said.
“I think the Australian team in general thrives on pressure and so I think the best of the Australian team will come out.”
His confidence is shared by Shaun Tait, who has only played four one-day games and has still to prove he is capable of filling the strike bowling role normally filled by Brett Lee, who will miss the World Cup because of an ankle injury.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to the lads about it but I’m sure that they’re not too worried. We’ve got Ricky [Ponting] and Adam Gilchrist coming back into the side so we’ll be back as strong as ever.”
The Australian squad will arrive in the Caribbean on Thursday to begin preparing for next week’s warm-up matches against Zimbabwe and England in St Vincent.
They will then move on to St Kitts, their base during the first round group phase when they will play Scotland, the Netherlands and South Africa.
Leave the cricket experts apart and even Hussey can guess that.